The redesigned iOS Fitbit app is rolling out!

[LizzyFitbit]

Hello everyone!

I would like to announce that the redesigned Fitbit app starts rolling out today! This new app will help you reach your goals, and bring the health and wellness information right on hand.

Check out our latest blog for how to get the most out of the new app. 

Note: Please be patient if you don't see the update right away, as it will take some time to roll out completely.

Happy stepping!

[Pang1]

Completely agree with this.

new watch = infinitely better than current fitbit

old Fitbit = so much better than what’s out there

What a shame google have lost such a strong customer base, I guess egos got in the way of a good product. ☹️

[mcw53]

I don't think it's ego; I believe this techradar article explains what's happening to fitbit. Notable quotes from the article:

"It’s a familiar story: a successful company is bought by a huge conglomerate and run into the ground, while the conglomerate takes the smaller company's best ideas and products and incorporates them into its brand."

"Alphabet has shut down the facility for developers to create third-party apps for Fitbit OS, preventing new content from being created for the platform."

"...it’s sad to see the best Fitbits slowly being stripped of some of the features that made them great."

"The end result is that customers who made their purchases based on those features now own a device that's fundamentally different from the one they originally bought; and to get those features back they must upgrade to the Pixel Watch, or buy a device from another brand."

"Fitbit will probably stick around in some form for a few years yet, but it’s already as good as dead. Rather than being a picture of health, Fitbit is on life support, waiting for Google and Alphabet to finally pull the plug and harvest what's left of its vital organs.

[SunsetRunner]

I think I may now be forced to update the app very soon! 🤬

When I tap my latest gps tracked exercise to see the detail, it now crashes and the app closes! I have found a workaround using the manage data option which was explained earlier in this topic but how long will that last! 

[mcw53]

Good morning @SunsetRunner 

The workaround worked with iOS app versions v4.00 thru v4.09. But, as of version v4.10, google implemented code to disable the workaround. If you update to the current version (v4.12), you will no longer have access to the workaround.

[SunsetRunner]

Yes that’s what I thought. I really don’t want to update, so I’ll put up with it as long as I can. I find the colours etc from the old App so much easier to see. I have an eye condition which means I need high contrast, but google obviously don’t care about things like that! 

[kerrieBBOZ]

@SunsetRunner  I’m still on iOS app version 3.86, ie still enjoying the old layout and functions, (apart from losing onboard GPS last august). I have also been avoiding updating my iPhone from iOS 16 to iOS 17, and although the latest security patch has gone out to iOS 16 it has only gone out to older iPhones. So I am now forced to update to iOS 17 and will report back as to whether that is the final death knell for my beloved old Fitbit app. However if it is, it will also be the final death knell for me and Fitbit, I’m afraid. Will take the plunge tonight.

[kerrieBBOZ]

So I’m reporting back that my old Fitbit app (3.86) seems to still be working on iOS 17.4

Have not yet tested whether the iPhone gps is still synching with my Charge 5 during tracked activities, but it seems normal otherwise. Will post again if something isn’t working once I’ve had it in use for a couple of days.

[mjdmaine]

Google buying Fitbit, though I'm sure it was great financially for the early owners, is the worst thing to happen to those of us who USED to love our Fitbits.

[kerrieBBOZ]

Further to my recent feedback on how my old app has coped with updating my iPhone to the latest iOS: the gps (via the phone app, not the onboard GPS, which stopped working after a Fitbit phone app update in August) is working fine for tracked walks  (old app version 3.86) and on iOS 17.4, using my Charge 5, which I have also not updated to the new firmware version that was bricking so many Charge 5 trackers.

But having said that all is working, the synching is getting glitchy, but it has been for a few months now so not the result of the latest iOS update (ie I have to manually synch to update steps data during the day and sometimes it turns itself off thinking it has only a few percent battery left (according to the app) but when I attach it to the charger it comes straight back to life with plenty of battery (ie anything from thirty to sixty percent)

So the Charge 5 is definitely on borrowed time, and although there will be some who think that I’ve done as well as can be expected for my Fitbit to last 2 1/2 years, I actually think that is a disgracefully short amount of time for a supposedly good quality watch/tracker.

Manufacturers should not be selling supposedly good quality products with built in obsolescence of merely 1-3 years. No wonder we are ruining the planet.

[Lrocko]

I do NOT like the new dashboard. Please tell me how to reset the old one. Stop changing a good thing!

[Utopianmovement]

Exactly the new charge 6 band connectors don’t work this is my second and it’s worse than the first. So many will lose the things been a member over 10 years with every charge device and it gets worse hardware and software with each iteration
Sent from my iPhone

[Rea87]

disappointingly, this is significantly uglier than the previous "update" and removes even more features...... great. it's disgusting looking, actually, and i will avoid updating as long as i possibly can - even if the app no longer works, i probably won't update it, it's that bad. why remove everything colorful and make it nearly impossible to read data (the remaining data, i've seen so many people say a lot of the usable functionality like active zones has been destroyed because of this)? like, why not merge fitbit with whatever google product they want to push instead of this? it would make things significantly less worse (not good, but less awful...) 

i JUST got a replacement charge 5 in the mail today (thankfully i didn't have to pay for it, since the previous one was still under 1 year old..... i don't like updating apps and i saw i had to update to use a new clock, which is when i saw this horrible "update") and i'm so incredibly disappointed. i wish i had switched to another tracker before i bought the charge 5 last year. it'll SUCK to lose all my tracked info (since 2017!) when i switch to a new tracker company and have to start over, which is the main reason i stuck with fitbit as long as i have already. this just seals the deal. 

they don't care about customers or product usability, they care about money and that's about it. fitbit has been downgrading and dying for years, but with google it's even faster down.

[mcw53]

I believe this techradar article explains what's happening to fitbit. Notable quotes from the article:

"It’s a familiar story: a successful company is bought by a huge conglomerate and run into the ground, while the conglomerate takes the smaller company's best ideas and products and incorporates them into its brand."

"Alphabet has shut down the facility for developers to create third-party apps for Fitbit OS, preventing new content from being created for the platform."

"...it’s sad to see the best Fitbits slowly being stripped of some of the features that made them great."

"The end result is that customers who made their purchases based on those features now own a device that's fundamentally different from the one they originally bought; and to get those features back they must upgrade to the Pixel Watch, or buy a device from another brand."

"Fitbit will probably stick around in some form for a few years yet, but it’s already as good as dead. Rather than being a picture of health, Fitbit is on life support, waiting for Google and Alphabet to finally pull the plug and harvest what's left of its vital organs."

[BobbyB64]

Yep. The article nailed it. Thanks for sharing.

[kerrieBBOZ]

@Rea87  You can export your Fitbit data and import it into many of the other apps. The main problem is if you want to export tracked walks or runs. You can do it, but you have to do it one by one. Or you could just choose to do the sentimental ones, like walks you did while travelling or something. I’m still clinging to my old app which I haven’t updated since the charge 5 firmware fail in August last year. But at that time I started synching with Strava so that my tracked walks from that point on would be saved somewhere other than Fitibit, assuming that sooner or later I’d be forced to update and at that point I’ll be going to either the fruit or the one that rhymes with farmin’.

[Oldzumbalady]

Hi,

It’s not really about importing my data, it’s about being able to see anything on the screen. The screen is totally black. Seems to be tracking since I can see steps and such on my phone, but that doesn’t help me know what time it is, or what messages I’m getting when I’m not near my phone. It’s just very frustrating.

Get Outlook for iOS<>

[Semvn]

How do you export Fitbit data if you've migrated to Google? There is just Google Takeout, which you have to wait for for a couple of hours or days, and which has incomplete information (e.g. sleep.csv is missing sleep stage data, which was promised).

The data is on the server though, so how do you get to it?

[MissMyData]

Hi. The IOS App Store has v4.13 of the App available. Has anyone installed it and seen improvements in any particular area? Just asking before I decide whether to install or wait. The description says ‘bug fixes and performance improvements’

[Nolic]

It’s a shame that this redesigned app is as much use as a chocolate fire guard! 
Im incredibly disappointed at this step backwards with functionality.  Features removed that can only be changed by logging onto the website and not in app.  What century are we in exactly? 
I can’t wait to replace my Fitbit with a tracker that actually functions like a fitness tracker and not a glorified pedometer 😡

[mcw53]

If v4.13 fixed something, it will be the 1st release that fixed anything. I have been trying for 6 months to get seconds added back to exercise duration. This is literally a 5 minute change to modify the display format from h:mm to h:mm:ss. I strongly recommend turning off automatic updates for the iOS fitbit app.